Oil burner



Nov. l2 1926. 1,605,488

M. J. VOTAVA OIL BURNER Filed June 28, 1924 lli Patented Nov. 2, 1926i S PATENT omer.. A

MILES J. VOTAVA, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

' l Y on. Brianna.

applicati@ med annees,

My invention relates to hydrocarbon oil burners adapted especially for household, domestic and industrial heating and refers more particularly to the gravity type of oil burners, that is the type wherein the' fu'l oil is fed to the burner by gravity without the aidl of mechanical devices, suchV as pumps, blowers and the like.

Theinventionfrelates to oil burners which arev adapted tobe placed inside of domestic heaters such Vas hot water heaters, steam boilersand the like, and wherein the natural draft of the chimney connections is relied upon for drawing in a sufficient quantity of air for proper combustion with the hydrocarbon fuel utilized with the apparatus of this invention.

An object of my invention is to provide an oil burner 'which will burn hydrocarbon oil in the most eflicient and economical man'- ner with a flame of extremely high temperature with substantially no production of soot and under proper conditions of combustion.

Another object of the invention is to pro vide an oil burner having a pan into` which voil is fed and whichpan -is heated by the combustion of the oil for vaporizing the oil as it is delivered to the pan and the provision of an air duct centrally of the pan whereby air passing therethrough under the influence of the chimney connections may cool the pan somewhat and at the same time becoming heated for accelerating combustion.

A further object of the invention to provide an oil burner which willbe highly eflicient in the matter of combustion and which has no moving parts to get out of order.

A further object of lthe invention is to provide an oil burner of the gravity type including a plate adapted to be placed upon the grates of the heater which plate has a plurality of concentric grooves therein into r which the oil` is delivered forA combustion purposes.

A still furtherobject of the inventionisA to provide an oil burner of the-gravity type including a plate adapted to be place upon the grates ofa heater whichplate'has a centrally disposed opening therein through which` air passes, a pre-heater mounted above the opening into whlch pre-heater oil is fed and from whichl the oil is discharged onto the plate, which plate becomes vaporizes the oil 1224. serial no. 722,944.

delivered thereto. Said heat also tends to warm the oil which -is Within the pre-heater and also tends to heat the lincoming air which is induced through said opening by the chimney connections in the heater, which burner and its attachment may be readily applied to any type of heater without disarrangement or removal of any of the parts of the heater.

A yet further object of the invention is to provide an oil burner of the gravity type which will be eiiicient in operation and which will permit the proper mixture of air with hydrocarbon fuel tending toward ideal combustion conditions.

The above recited and other objects of the invention will be apparent from the folflowing description and drawings, and Vwill be particularly pointed out in the appended claims.V

Generally speaking, I carry out the preferred embodiment of 'my invention `by providing a plate, preferably of cast iron, which is mounted on th'e grates of a furnace or heater, covering the grate area which isl not occupied by the plate, s'o asfto preclude the passage of air therethrough and restrict the passage of air to a centrally disposed opening in said plate. Above the plate I mount what I term a pre-heater,

into which oil is fed, ,where it is heated by the products of combustion and from which the oil is delivered on to the plate where it is vaporized and ignited by reason of the heat of the plate and by reason of/the heated zone inmediately above the base of the plate.

Inthe accompanying drawings:

zFig. 1 is a verticalfsectionalview lof the preferred embodiment of the invention, and

Fig. 2is a top plan view of the embodiment'shown in Fig. 1. g

In the drawings I have shown a fragmenf tary portion of the fire pot A of a domestic heater, which fire pot isrprovided with the usual grate4 bars 5 mounted in the usual manner so as to be rocked or shaken for the purpose of removing the ashes. The

vsides of'the fire pot A are designated at 6 and may be of any shape, size or arrangement as desired.

The invention consists of a plate 7 formed preferablyof cast iron, having -a lower marginal portion 8 which rests on a plate 22 defining the several grooves which edge 12 scrvesas a wall to retain the fuel oil within the plate.r Between the grooves 9, 10, and

- that the hydrocarbon; oil ma ll are ridges 13 and 14, the ridge 13 being slightly higher than the ridge 14. rIhe plate is vformed with a centrally disposed opening 15 which is defined by a collar 1G, the upper fedge 17 of which is above the edge 12 of lthe plate. A short distance below the top edge 17 of the lcollar 16 I providev two steps or notches 18 and 19, arranged as shown. Communicating with the outer groove 11 is anoutlet opening 20 which is `formed by a core inserted at the time the casting is made, with which opening 20 a pipe 21 communicates for permitting whatever accumulation of oil there is in the outer groove 11 to run off in a manner hereinafter described.

In applying the plate to av heater, the grate area. not occupied by the plate is preferably covered over as at 22 by a covering made of asbestos, fireciay and sand, for the purpose of preventing the passage of any air from below the grate to the chimney connections except through the centrally disposed `opening 15 ofthe plate. In this manner I secure a supply of air which, when regulated in the manner hereinafter described, I find proper and sutcient for combination with the hydrocarbon fuel for purposes of combustion. f Y

Above the top of the collar 16 I mount what I term a pre-heater which consists of a hollow member 23 having an imperforate top 24, a dished bottom 25 at the center of which bottom there is a threaded opening 26 with which cooperates a threaded pluO 27, which plug has a centrally disposed passageway 28 therethrough with which passageway a pipe 29 communicates, the other end of which is connected, in a manner not shown, with a source of oil supply in order be supplied to the pre-heater. As will e noted the supply pipe passes upwardly through the ashpit and the gratebars to the pre-heater.

A regulating valve 39 is interposed in this supply pipe for controlling the passage of fuel to the pre-heater. The top 24 has a centrally disposed threaded opening .30 in which 1s inserted a screw threaded plug 31. The; bottom of the preheater is provided with a plurality of openings 32 in which are threaded nipples 33.

These nipples are short and provide means for delivering the hydrocarbon oil from the pre-heater on to the plate. Furthermore, the nipples are so positioned as to serve as supports for the pre-heater and are arranged as shown in the drawings to rest on the shoulder 18 formed about the upper end of the collar 16. The length of the nipples is such as to properly position the pre-heater with respect to the end ofthe collar 16 in order to control to some entent the passage of air through the opening. It will be noted that the side of the pre-heater is cast with a downwardly projecting margin 34 for the purpose of limiting, in connection with the length of the nipples 33, the maximum amount of air that may pass underneath the pre-heater from the opening 15. In order to more fully control the passage of air through the openings and underneath thc pre-heater where the air is spread by reason of the formation and relation of parts, l provide a cap 35 having an inturned upper marginal portion 3G, so that the cap may be applied over the top of the pre-heater. The upper part of the cap is cut away so that the same will 'lit snuglyy over the top of the pre-heater. The side portion of the cap is adapted to extend downwardly toward the top edge 17 of the collar 16 for varying the air passageway. The cap may be adjusted in vertical position by inserting a washer 38, shim or the like between the marginal flange 36 and t-he top surface of the pre-heater and in this way secure the cap in any desired vertical position. This adjustment is necessary in order that a.

burner may be adapted to the draft condi tions of any type of heating plant into which it may be put in service. F or facilitating removal of the cap I provide outstanding lugs'? at diametrically opposite points, in order to grasp the cap by a tool, poker, or the like. The supply pipe 29 may be connected to any suitable source of supply such as a gravity tank or any other source. The outletpipe 21 from the groove 11 of the plate may be directed to cooperate with a trip valve for automatically shutting on' the supply of oil through the pipe 29 when the groove 11 is filled to a height which will discharge through the outlet pipe 21, which sometimes happens when proper ignition does not take place. Whenever ignitlon 1s insufficient or absent, unless the oil supply is stopped, the oil would overow on to the Hoor surrounding the heating plant.

' As will be noted from the drawings, the underside of the plate is cast with corrugations therein so that the contour of the un' derside of theplate is somewhat similar to the upper surface of the same. made so in order that the incoming air which passes upwardly through the grate bars and This is through the opening 15in the plate will tend to cool the plate to a greater degree than would happen if fthe underside of the plate were perfectly smooth.

Theoperation of the device is as follows: TheV grate area being covered to preclude the passageway of air anywhere except through the opening 15 in the plate results in the flow of air from the ash pit upwardly under influence of the chimney connections 'through the opening 15 in the plate. As the air moves under the. chimney or induced draft it strikes against the under side of the plate and thenis reduced in volume to pass through the opening 15 where it strikes the under side of the preheater. Here by reason of the formation of the under side of the heater'l the "air is deflected outwardly in a ring and downwardly by reason of the cap 35 and spreads in a sheet immediately above the surface of the plate. Hydrocarbon oil is admitted through the plate 29 into the pre-heater where the dished portion of the bottom is filled and then any excess amount of oil tends to overflow through the nipples 33 onto the `controlling the supply of oil through the pipe 29 is opened and oil will flow into the pre-heater and onto the plate where ignition takes place by reason of the heatin the` plate, and also from the burning paper or the like which is on the plate. As the combustion continues the incoming air through the opening .15 striking against the under side of the plate will tend to cool the plate, and at the same time will in itself absorb some of the heat, thus becoming warmed and continuing upwardly against the pre-heater and then downwardly over the plate. The combustion of the hydrocarbonl and air like` wise heats the fuel oil within the pre-heater so that volatilization of the same and combustion is facilitated. Within the pre-heater, above the surface of the oil in the to of the pre-heater is an air chamber which is filled with warm air, which again aids in increasing the temperature of the oil within the pre-heater. The warm/air within the pre-heater serves also to prevent carbonization within the pre-heater. The longer combustion takes place the greater will be the heat created, so that in a comparativelyI short time after starting the heater, the

- incoming oil is volatilized immediately on being delivered against the plate, whereupon ycombustion occurs. The cap 35 is properly to' utilize the greatest-amount' of heat from the oil. As before stated, if the weather conditions are severe and it is desired to increase the amount of heat, then the amount 'of' oil supplied with the pre-heater may be increased by proper manipulation of the control valve whereuponl a-greater amount of heated oil will be delivered on to the plate, with a consequent increase in the combustion in the increased amount of oil. The air drawn in through theopening 15 in the plate tends to cool the plate and also the, pre-heater, thus making possible continued operation of this device as a heater without fear of any damage whatsoever' to any of the parts by reason of theh'eat of combustion. The air also tends to drive the flame away from the pre-heater, thus preventing excessive heating of the pre-heater whereby carbonization of the interior of the heater is eliminated. The amount of air delivered over the surface ofA the plate is regulated by the cap.35 and consequently proper combustion is made possible because of regulation of the air containing oxygen, in this manner.

It will be noted. that my apparatus consists of but three parts, namely, the plate, the pre-heater and the air regulating cap on the pre-heater. No pilot light of any sort is required, nor any mechanical parts such as motors, blowers and the' like, are necessary.

I have found that my burner works satisfactorily with dark and light gas oils, with distillate,A both light or medium-heavy and further it works satisfactorily with light or medium-heavy crude oil. The lighter oil, such as kerosene, burnsvery efficiently in this device.

An advantage of my invention is that it burns inexpensive fuel oil, is quickly applied or removed, requires no moving parts of any sort, nor even a pilot light. Furthermore, it can `be placed directly on the grates of a heating plant, thus making it possible in the event the burner becomes inwithout departing from the spirit of my invention.

I claim: 1. An oil burner including in combination, a substantially circular plate having CFI a grooved surface and adapted to seat on the grate bars of a heater, and yhaving a centrally disposed air opening therein, a collar defining said opening integral with said plate and extendingl above the uppermost part thereof, said collar having an annular ledge therearound, a pre-heater disposed above said air opening and provided with supports which rest on said ledge, said supports comprising hollow members communicating with the interior of said preheater and serving as outlets therefor, the upper open ends of said members being at or near the bottom of said heater, said members being adapted to discharge the contents of said pre-heater onto said plate, and means for delivering liquid fuel to said pre-heater.

2. An oil burner including in combination, a substantially circular plate having a grooved surface and adapted to seat on the grate bars of a heater, and having centrally disposed air opening therein, a collar defining said opening integral with said plate and extending above the uppermost part thereof, said collar having an annular ledge therearonnd, a pre-heater disposed above said air opening and provided with supports which reston said ledge, said support-s, comprising hollow membersv communicating with the interior of said pre-heater and serving as outlets therefor., the upper open ends of said members being at or near the bottom of said heater, said members being adapted to discharge the contents of said pre-heater onto said plate, means for delivering liquid fuel to said pre-heater, and means for regulating the amount ofl air passing through said opening and for directing the same outwardly over the surface of said plate.

3. An oil burner including in combination, a circular plate having a plurality of concentrically arranged grooves on the surface thereof separated by ribs of different heights, a collar integral' with said plate and centrally disposed therein defining an air opening therethrough, a ledge on the outer surface of said collar near the upper end thereof, a pre-heater above said collar supported on said ledge, outlets from said pre-heater adapted to spill the discharge therefrom downwardly onto said collar and into the grooves in the plate whereby ignition of said fuel is effected on said plate by the heat thereof, meansfor delivering fuel to said pre-heater, and for regulating the flow thereof, and means for regulating the flow of air through said central opening and outwardly over said plate.

et. An loil burner including in combination, a plate, a pre-heater mounted above said plate, means for directing the How of air through said plate and against said preheater, means for supplying oil to said preheater, means for delivering oil from said pre-heater to said plate, and means on said pre-heater foiregulating the iow of air over the s1 1face of said plate.

An oil burner, including in combination, a plate, a pre-heater mounted above said.plate, means for directing the flow` of air through said plate and against said pre-heater, means for supplying oil to said pre-heater, means for delivering oil from said pre-heater to said plate, and means in cluding an adjustable cap on said pre-heater for regulating the flow of air over the surface of said plate.

Signed at Chicago, Illinois, this 23rd day of June, 1924.

MILES J. VOTAVA. 

